It’s a statistic we’ve heard time and time again in recent years: while 90% of future jobs will require digital skills, almost half (44%) of Europeans lack even the most basic digital skills, warns Ilona Kish.

The European Parliament has just voted to back the copyright directive, as part of the ‘Digital Single Market’ priorities. Now, fighting fake news before the EU elections is not enough: we should prepare a vertical strategy for the media sector 2019-2024, writes Christophe Leclercq.

The EU High-Level Expert Group on ‘fake news’ published its report with recommendations earlier this week. Christophe Leclercq, one of its members, offers his views on its potential impact ahead of the 2019 EU elections, and why it matters to the media sector.

Fake news has been blamed for the election of Trump, the Brexit vote and the rise of populist parties in Europe. A High Level Expert Group (HLEG) on fake news has been set up by the European Commission to suggest how to address the problem. Žiga Turk, one of the members, shares his comments on their Final Report, released earlier today (March 12).

The EU wants to establish European benchmarks for IT security. However, the proposed measures will slow down innovative companies and detach the EU from international cybersecurity efforts, writes Naemi Denz.

We have all had our fill of references to ‘fake news’ – to the point that we are no longer sure what it means. However, that should not blind us to the fact that significant issues are at stake in the digital world, writes Noel Curran.

The discussion of public and private funding must be on the top of any media agenda including how to tackle fake news, writes Renate Schroeder. Investing in resources and staff is a prerequisite for responsible reporting.

It is time for the European Commission to make sure that the EU lives up to its Charter of Fundamental Rights and the Treaty on European Union (TEU), write Professor Jackie Harrison and Dr Stef Pukallus.

How to reconcile Greek and German public opinions, or reform the Eurozone, without building bridges between national media? David Mekkaoui and Christophe Leclercq explain why they think this is necessary and possible.

It would be a mistake to keep pretending that Europe will emerge stronger from the latest round of the Greek crisis, or to ignore that all the shouting at Athens, and the shouting back at Germany, sets the scene for the “NO camp” to win other referendums, too. There is only one positive decision to take, argues Diogo Pinto.

Populists hit out at an "Anglo-Saxon" EU, Russia spreads propaganda, media concentration increases as revenues move to Google and Facebook. Christophe Leclercq gives a candid view on how publishers and politicians can help Europe’s press prevail.

As the new ‘political’ Commission is being debated and adjusted, one should move from policy coordination to external impact. Christophe Leclercq, a longtime observer of EU communication, sees merit in the Commission set-up being confirmed, and also flags a major gap in its potential for reaching out.

In the coming weeks, Jean-Claude Juncker faces the challenge to match profiles, portfolios and country ambitions with the needs of EU citizens. One is to communicate the EU message better; another is to ensure a sustainable industry strategy for the fragile media sector. Mr Juncker shouldn’t confuse these two, writes Christophe Leclercq.